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A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', lit. "bearing or carrying a god")〔.〕 embeds the name of a god, both invoking and displaying the protection of that deity. For example, names embedding Apollo, such as ''Apollonios'' or ''Apollodorus'', existed in Greek antiquity.〔Shendge, Malati J. ''The Language of the Harappans: From Akkadian to Sanskrit'', 1997. p 24. "It may also be interpreted as theophorous names, i.e. the name of the god forming part of the name of an individual. The usage is theophorous because besides the eponymous Asura, each individual of high or low status has a personal name."〕 Theophoric personal names, containing the name of a god in whose care the individual is entrusted (or a generic word for ''god''), were also exceedingly common in the ancient Near East and Mesopotamia.〔Zadok, R. ''The Pre-hellenistic Israelite Anthroponymy and Prosopography'', 1988. p 16. "The Period of the Judges (J) The theophorous names constitute a sizable minority (almost 40%). Many of the hypocoristica possibly originate from compound theophorous names (e.g., Abdon, Gerd, J21 1 1 1 1, 2141 12)."〕〔Benz, Frank L. ''Personal Names in the Phoenician and Punic Inscriptions''. p 233. "Any one of the three major types of elements, divine name or theophorous, nominal, or verbal can make up a Phoenician-Punic hypocoristic name. The divine name hypocoristic is the least attested. The simplest formation is that of a single ..."〕〔Drijvers, H. J. W. ''Cults and Behafs at Edessa'', 1980. p 21. "The proper names, which are mainly theophorous ones, may increase our knowledge of the religious feeling of the people of Edessa and of the cults practiced by them, insofar as their theophorous elements reflect existing beliefs."〕 Some names of theophoric origin remain common today, such as Theodore (''theo-'', "god"; ''-dore'', origin of word compound in Greek: ''doron'', "gift"; hence "God's gift"; in Greek: ''Theodoros'') or less recognisably as John (from Hebrew ''Yohannan'', meaning "Yahweh is gracious"). ==Classical theophoric names== * Demetrius and its derivatives mean "follower of Demeter." * Dennis, in Latin ''Dionysius'', and its relatives mean "of Dionysus." * Martin and its relatives mean "of Mars." * Diodoros or Diodorus from Zeus (genitive of Zeus is 'dios'); Poseidonios from Poseidon; Athenodoros/Athenodora from Athena and Minervina from Minerva; Apollodoros/Apollodora and Apollonios from Apollon; Artemisia and Artemidoros/Artemidora from Artemis; Aphrodesia from Aphrodite; Hephaistion from Hephaistos; Aria from Ares; Hermione from Hermes; Heliodoros/a from Helios; Fortunatus from Fortuna; Serapion from Serapis and Isidoros or Isidora from Isis. * Certain names of classical gods are sometimes given as personal names. The most common is Diana and its variants, such as Diane; others include Minerva, Aphrodite, Venus, Isis, or Juno. The first pope to take a regnal name, Pope John II, had the given name Mercurius and changed his name as he considered it inappropriate for the Pope to have the name of a pagan deity. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theophoric name」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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